


Breadsticks Are No Joking Matter

by YouarethereasonIwrite



Series: Rare Steak Pairs [1]
Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Attempt at Humor, Breadstick meme, Fluff, M/M, Memes, Nonbinary Character, Romance, gay af
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-14
Updated: 2016-04-14
Packaged: 2018-06-02 04:08:09
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 15,730
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6550117
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/YouarethereasonIwrite/pseuds/YouarethereasonIwrite
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It was un-fucking-believable that the two met this way; Hinata couldn't believe that he met a hot waiter using a breadstick meme of all things.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. this is not how i wanted to meet you

**Author's Note:**

> whoops???? i should be doing shit such as updating my other fanfics but whoopsies??? i wa nT TO WRIT ESO BADA
> 
> no but srsly i fucking love tsukihina (even more than the generic kagehina at this point) and this idea popped in my head one day bc tsukishima is honestly fucking meme trash (just like my other fanfic. yeah i'm shamelessly self promoting myself lmao) 
> 
> ok but even more srsly i love hinata x everyone... i might maket his a fu cking series w/ hinata harem woot woot
> 
> ur warned about how gay this all is
> 
> iM SO RRY MY WR ITING su CK s ASS M O re TH AN A SCis GA y m a N

 

 

Hinata didn’t know what compelled him to agree to his older friends’ nudging suggestion of allowing them to take the wheel of life away from him--specifically towards his “awful love life”, according to them--and let them, as oh so _amazing_ sempais, take care of his status as being single. Maybe he really was desperate? Hinata liked to think he didn’t sink _that_ low yet.

Anyway, because he agreed to leave it to Yuu and Ryuu, they decided on a whim that he would be set up, specifically on a blind date. And that’s where Hinata had to draw the line with black and yellow police tape. He didn’t want to be paired up with a random bystander that he didn’t know nor some unfortunate person he, on an off chance, _did_ know. The whiplash he suffered when turning to yell that, _no,_ he did _not_ want to go on a blind date was supposed to be worth it, but by the time he whipped around, the duo was already halfway across _Japan_ on their mission. Sometimes Hinata wished he was still young and naive and absolutely _dumb_ just so he didn’t have to cringe at the thought of how stunningly awful the date would end up to be.

He sighed. Maybe Yuu and Ryuu would have better taste than last time? He honestly didn’t think they would literally bring a random stud, but after further investigation via a date at a fucking Chuck E. Cheese’s of all places, Hinata concluded that yes, Yuu and Ryuu would easily snatch a random person off of the street in order to change Hinata’s status to “happily in a relationship” on a dusty Facebook he hasn’t used in almost a decade.

There was more than enough greasy pizzas and dead eyed animatronics to give him a heart attack anytime he even passed the children’s dream house.

Hinata admitted he was no longer a sporting young chap with the constant awkward phases of being a teenager nor the horniness of a young male ready to neck it with anyone. He was twenty six now, which admittedly wasn’t that old, but he was getting there with his slightly faulty knee after all the soaring in volleyball games and breathless competition during his younger years. He was ready to become a coach for his old college instead of playing professionally like his best friend, Kageyama Tobio.

Okay, but back to Hinata’s predicament. He was stuck awkwardly staring down at his toes in front of his bathroom mirror whilst Yuu sprayed yet another can of hairspray to tame Hinata’s wild sunset curls. Nothing could flatten down Hinata’s hair, however, not even gravity suddenly not existing.

Still, Yuu was a dreamer and he only wanted what was best for his younger friend; he would do anything for his friend, even defy the law of physics so that Hinata’s damn hair would just lie flat instead of bounce around like a kid’s bouncy house at their birthday party. Hinata stiffly tugged at the fancy cuffs Ryuu borrowed from his older sister’s friend’s mother’s father’s uncle or whatever. He felt a little overdressed for a first date with a random person at an Italian restaurant, but his friends easily shooed away his complaints with another spray of strong smelling cologne. Hinata bet even fifty years later he would be able to smell the brand and have an aneurism from the sheer embarrassment about to happen.

“Are you sure I look okay?” Hinata asked cautiously. He didn’t want to set off the bomb known as his the meme duo and they wouldn’t hesitate to tattoo his skin themselves with a sewing needle if he even mentioned wanting one but not being able to afford one. They were formidable, determined people and Hinata was in no mood to deal with the repercussions of their mindless actions.

“You look amazing, bro!” Ryuu nodded with a toothy grin. Yuu backed up the statement with a thumbs up and a mock sob as he wiped away an invisible tear.

“Our young’un is growing up, Ryuu.”

“I know, man. I know.” Ryuu dramatically gathered Yuu up in his strong arms as they wept. Hinata wanted to cry too, but for a completely different reason. He stared at himself uncertainly in the mirror, feeling more like the little boy he once was trying to avoid playing dress up with his younger sister but not being able too because younger sisters were crafty and could use their puppy pouts and teary eyes to sway any sane person.

Halloween didn’t happen in the middle of June, yet Hinata appeared to be a shorter, brighter version of Dracula with slicked back hair, a black tuxedo, white cuffs, and pointy shoes. He was only missing the lack of bloodlust, the red tweed cape, and the jutting out fangs whiter than Hollywood’s whitewashing. Regardless, he was known for his tenacity in pulling out of terrible situations--volleyball hounded that into him--and he smiled at his friends. As much as their antics could grow to become a bit overbearing, he was still grateful to have caring friends such as Ryuu and Yuu.

“Thanks, Ryuu, Yuu.” They bashfully scratched the back of their heads while shooing his gratitude away with shy smiles. Hinata grew amused at their actions as Yuu promised to treat him to ice cream while Ryuu one upped him with the promise of meat buns. Yuu accepted the challenge and yelped about giving Hinata ice cream on top of meat buns, eliciting a smart move from Ryuu as he grinned ferociously like a shark and declared to invite Hinata to his favorite restaurant that made the best tamago kake gohan.

“SHIT, THE TIME!” Ryuu screeched like a banshee or like Oikawa being mauled by Iwaizumi as he checked his phone. Yuu panicked too, frantically ushering a completely calm Hinata out of his own apartment, locking up for him, and leading him to Yuu’s beat up car older than the dinosaurs themselves. Hinata was stuffed in the backseat as his “fairy godmothers” stumbled into the car in the front after he was in and started up the engine. Hinata was only glad that the police didn’t notice three whooping males in an aged car about to die with loud music in the background. He was also very much glad that he made it to the restaurant without any injuries (maybe a minor concussion after Ryuu slammed the brakes last minute to avoid killing an old lady).

“Okay, good luck, Shouyou!” Yuu gave him another thumbs up before the two left, Ryuu’s rambunctious laughter cutting through the silent air with a hyena like vibe. Hinata smiled and waved to them until the car was just a mere speck in the orange street lamps. He breathed out shakily, nerves on fire, before heading into his doom.

“Uh, this is gonna sound weird, but uh, I’m on a blind date so.” Hinata anxiously stuttered to the hostess, who boredly eyed him up and down before sighing.

“He’s waiting for you in the back. It’s for Yuu, right?”

“Uh, yeah?”

“He so owes me one.” The hostess mumbled to herself tiredly before jerking her head to the side. “Your blind date is sitting by a big potted plant. He has a bouquet of red roses next to him and the bluest tuxedo I’ve seen yet. You’ll be able to spot him miles away.” She instructed.

“Thanks!” Before he could leave and face his date, the girl’s voice stopped him.

“Good luck.” This time, his smile was less tight and voice less shaky as stars dusted his eyes.

“Thanks!” The woman huffed to herself in exasperation as she watched the male leave. As his back faded in with the rest of the bustling restaurant, she counted five seconds before a loud screech of shock was heard. She sighed, whipped out her phone despite being on duty, and quickly shot a text to Yuu.

 _“YOU’RE_ MY BLIND DATE?!”

  


~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

  


Tsukishima Kei just wanted to go home, maybe read a little bit, and then sleep for days. As a recent graduate from an expensive university, he emerged into society as cranky as ever with more debt that kept piling up as each day passed. With only six months before interest hit onto his accumulating debt, Tsukishima quickly began to fill out applications and applications for jobs that would pay well. Luckily, his best friend, Yamaguchi Tadashi, managed to squeeze a few good words in about him to his boss and so Tsukishima easily found a job at the fancy Italian restaurant in town. He was a server along with his best friend, and as much as the business killed his feet and sleeping schedule, he was grateful for the taxing job. At least he was able to pay for his rent for a little while longer while also paying 50000 yen a month for his student loans.

He usually worked at the restaurant at night, when the rush was worse than a traffic jam, and even managed to snag his preferred job as a pastry chef. He only really discovered his love for cooking the first year of attending a regular college with Yamaguchi and having to cook for himself and his roommate with a low college budget. He began to cook more and more often and found his talent with baking, which then spurred him on to go to an actual cooking academy with baking as his main focus.

Four years later and he was here in Tokyo’s most famous Italian restaurant at night while working at a peaceful bakery closer to the countryside, but famous all the same. He liked his hectic life at the moment and liked how he was able to have well paying jobs that he actually enjoyed.

However, like in this instance, he didn’t always like his job. Tsukishima hated the late night rush that started at approximately 5 pm and ended at around 10 pm. The only real downside to working in food service was some of the terrible customers with complaints rolling off their tongues every five minutes and disgusting sneers as they demanded to either speak to the manager or the chef. They would take out all of their annoyance onto the poor servers, who are forced to smile consistently while apologizing with little emotion in their voices. It wasn’t Tsukishima’s fault that the meat was “too raw” when they specifically asked for rare.

Tsukishima sighed, gritting his teeth with a tight white knuckled grip on the white plate with the “too raw” rare steak the customer specifically emphasized on. He barged in through the doors with a murderous expression on his face and set the plate none too gently on a random table. With an almost stoic face, he greeted one of the chefs with a monotonous voice.

“The customer says he didn’t want his meat too raw and wants you to cook him a new one.” The chef sighed stressfully, wiping away sweat with the sleeve of his stained white chef clothes. Tsukishima could relate to the feeling and he sympathetically grimaced as the chef pried open the fridge door with more force than necessary to retrieve another twelve ounce steak to cook it up so that it was more of a medium rare than an actual rare.

Tsukishima shrugged to himself before he set back out of the kitchen to check up on other tables. No one really seemed to mind his expressionless face as he dourly recited the common words servers spoke frequently enough to say them in their sleep. The blond didn’t realize how attractive he truly was, especially around the swooning ladies of all ages as he refilled wine glasses and shuffled plates up into a huge pile to clear the table.

As he made his regular rounds, nodding respectfully as he listened in to stories from regular customers, Tsukishima happened to stumble upon a particular sight. He had noticed the bright orange, a contrast to the neutral whites, grays, and blacks in the restaurant; the color clashed with his surroundings and he grew more intrigued as the smaller male passed him with a curious expression on his face. He swivelled his head round and round, as if searching for someone--most likely his date--and gnawed on his bottom lip with his teeth.

He was cute, Tsukishima admitted, and he watched as the orange haired male ran a hand through his slicked back hair that looked a lot more attractive than it should have. The stranger stopped in the middle of the fray and Tsukishima took up the chance to talk to the lost customer. He set the water pitcher off to the side in his station and headed over to the bundle of sunshine who was still glancing around quickly.

“Excuse me, sir.” Tsukishima tapped him lightly on the shoulder and the man turned around rapidly, a wild gleam in his eye. Tsukishima’s heart thudded against his rib cage.

“Oh, uh, sorry, I was looking for someone. He’s supposed to be my blind date but I can’t seem to find him. His table was under my friend’s name, Yuu, and apparently he’s by a potted plant? He has red roses and like a super green suit or something. I don’t remember what she said…” He mumbled out the last part past his long, fast rant. Tsukishima blinked. The male’s voice was smooth and a nice tenor, and his bright chocolate eyes seemed to swirl with emotions easily read like a book. Tsukishima always did like books.

“It’s fine, sir. I believe I’ve seen that gentleman before. Would you like me to lead you to him?” Tsukishima politely asked. His manager seemed to notice the distraught customer as well, so Tsukishima kept his polite facade despite wanting to tease the other about his tiny height and watching as the attractive male turned a cute shade of pink.

The man blinked. Then, a large sunny smile enveloped over his face, a tinge of pink on his cheeks, and fuck did it take Tsukishima’s breath away. “That would be awesome, thanks!” The man chirped, falling into step with Tsukishima as he silently walked away to the said table. He weaved through the crowd with years of experience and expertise while the shorter male followed after him like a duckling, squawking as he nudged against countless people. Apologies fell out of his mouth the same time Tsukishima snorted to himself. Yes, the guy was undoubtedly cute, but he was also very much clumsy and ungraceful.

“Right there.” Tsukishima gestured over to the lone man sitting in his seat with a constipated face that ranged between irritation and plain no emotion as he constantly glanced down at his watch. The blond felt almost green with envy at the thought of cute stranger on a date with this, admittedly, handsome gentleman as well. Instead of acting on his emotions like he was an immature kid again, Tsukishima bowed to the customer and turned his heel to mutter snarky comments to himself as he convinced himself that he wasn’t _that_ intrigued with the sunny man with bright matching hair.

 _“YOU’RE_ MY BLIND DATE?!” Tsukishima sighed in frustration, rubbing the bridge of his nose. He pushed his glasses up to the bridge of his nose and turned back around. The sight in front of him was almost comical enough for him to burst out laughing, but he refrained from doing so. The outburst from the shorter male caused the tables around them to grow silent for a split second before they awkwardly returned to their own conversations with fleeting peeks at the strange duo. The waiting man looked almost pained--well, more pained than his usual constipated look--as he took in the image of his old foe.

 _You’ve got to be shitting me,_ was the collective thought between the three of them. Tsukishima sighed once more as he was beckoned over by his none too pleased manager. It was going to be a _long_ night.

  


~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

  


Hinata prayed to every deity that would listen that they would just take his soul out of his body now. He awkwardly shifted his eyesight to the stiff brunette sitting in front of him before averting his eyes as their gazes met. He wanted to tear his hair out in quiet anger, maybe even cry out a few choice words that would have the older generation glaring daggers at him and overprotective mothers covering their children’s ears.

The situation at hand was _worse_ than the animatronic mess he was involved with his last blind date. And last time literally ended up in flames. This time, Hinata debated on whether or not to pour the fancy red wine in front of him all over his suave looking suit and set himself aflame by the flickering white candle in the middle of the table.

Ushijima. Ushi-fucking-jima was in front of him and he was suddenly fifteen all over again, declaring war on the “eagles” with Kageyama stuck to his side like glue, like a proud, overprotective parent as he soared up in the “fertile” lands that belonged to Shiratorizawa and plucked the volleyball out of the air neatly. Hinata stared down at the steak knife and considered committing seppuku for one split second before exhaling stressfully and sticking on the biggest smile he had to fool the world.

“So, Ushijima, how are things?” Ushijima just grunted. Just fucking grunted like the tall troll he was before turning back to more fascinating things, like say, having a glare down with the pristine plate in front of him. Hinata repressed a sigh and grabbed the glass full of merlot before basically chugging it. He needed all the alcohol his legal ID could get in order for the night to pass without Hinata bursting himself into flames.

By the time he finished up the glass, the waiter that helped him from before-- _the hot waiter,_ his traitorous mind supplied--returned with a big bundle of breadsticks in a tiny woven basket. It was glorious, the way the steaming breadsticks rested on the white cloth that just brought out the golden baked brown crust that crunched perfectly under teeth before the softer insides melted into one’s mouth. Hinata’s own mouth watered at the sight at the same time his stomach growled.

“Are you two ready to order?” The blond waiter asked stoically, his notepad already present in his large palm. Hinata glanced over to Ushijima, who still refused to meet his eyes, for confirmation. After a solid minute, the orange haired male sighed tiredly and shook his head to the server.

“Another minute, please and thanks.” The server was already gone by the time he said “another minute”. Hinata just ignored it and instantly reached out for a crispy golden treat. He excitedly stuffed half of the breadstick in his mouth and nearly moaned at the taste. He happily wiggled his butt on the chair and puffed out one cheek like a chipmunk as he stuffed the rest of the breadstick into his mouth and chewed quickly. After the first initial taste of heaven, or sin in this case, Hinata’s hand dove back into the basket for another breadstick. He chewed quickly, feeling much more amiable after food filling his empty stomach.

“Do you still play volleyball, Ushijima?” Hinata asked with his mouth full. The brunette’s sharp eyes snapped to his face for one second. He seemed less tense now, but Ushijima’s shoulders were taut as his thin lips as he hesitantly reached for the wine glass. He gingerly sipped the fine wine before placing it back in its original position before answering.

“Yes.” Hinata blinked. The man didn’t seem to budge after that response, so Hinata stuck on the same honey like smile and continued to ask Ushijima questions about his life that only really prompted a one word grunt from his lips. Hinata kind of wanted to cry.

As his last resort, he brought up Yuu and Ryuu, who were both the so called “cupids” for this “magical” night. Instead of the same grunt befitting a man stuck to the toilet trying to push out shit from his hershey highway, Ushijima immediately straightened up at the question defensively. Hinata partly wanted to cry.

“Sorry about them. They’re really nice and I guess they were worried about my non-existent love life?” Hinata laughed nervously at that, “And I dunno, I’m sorry you were dragged into this.” The orange head swept away the last of the hairspray from his greasy hair after the whole nervous habit throughout the whole date and his fluffy hair popped back up to its original state.

“‘S okay.” Hinata blinked before a wide, true smile spread over his face. Two words. _Two_ words! That was progress! The shorter male decided to celebrate his victory with another breadstick, that so happened to be the last one, and happily chewed the rest of it down.

“I always did like you.” At his bluntness, Hinata choked on the breadstick and began to heave from the piece of soggy bread stuck in his windpipe. It didn’t help that Ushijima’s larger, much warmer hand thumped him harshly on the back until Hinata’s lungs were clear of any godlike bread from the heavens. Hinata weakly smiled with tears dotting his doe eyes.

“Uh, I’m flattered?” He said as more of a question. He quickly backtracked, “I mean, that’s cool. Not a lot of people like me, like I mean like _like_ so I guess I don’t know what to do? That’s cool? And uh,” Hinata flushed, his hands growing very clammy as he wiped them off on his fancy slacks. He wished he could trade them in for his comfier ripped jeans instead of sitting primly at a fancy restaurant while his ex volleyball enemy declared his love for him. For the twentieth time that night, Hinata wished he didn’t allow Yuu and Ryuu to take the wheel away from him.

“Marriage.”

 _“Marriage?!”_ Hinata squeaked in horror. That was moving a little _too_ fast for his liking. He flushed and paled at the same time, which resulted in the rest of his face draining blood out of his skin other than his cheeks. Hinata didn’t like the way Ushijima’s slanted eyes pinned him down seriously.

“Joined together.” Ushijima continued on as if Hinata wasn’t slowly malfunctioning like a robot after having water in its outlets. The server was barely noticed between the two as he set down another basket of breadsticks, and Hinata, in his desperation to get away, quickly snatched up the basket closer to him. He unbuttoned the rest of his outer coat and his nice white collared shirt underneath.

Without thinking, Hinata responded to his fight or flight instincts and began to stuff breadsticks fervently into his shirt, crumbs and expensive clothing be damned. “I’m sorry, I have to leave immediately. My sister is dying, so uh, can’t stick around.” Hinata nervously said, and before Ushijima could retort or even grab his arm to stop him, Hinata quickly stood up and dashed away from the table. His small height enabled him to squeeze past small spaces created by large groups of people and he was able to duck out of the crowded dining area and back out into the waiting room.

He panted heavily as he stopped close to the hostess booth, hands on his knees as he caught his breath. He felt trapped in the room with Ushijima’s olive eyes keeping him on the edge of his seat while his hands grew progressively slicker with sweat. Hinata rose up, fervently hoping that Ushijima didn’t decide to follow after him. He didn’t want to risk it, and was just about to book it when a much taller man blocked his exit.

“Sir, where are you going?” Ah, it was cute blond guy. Hinata glanced behind his back quickly, finding Ushijima staring almost dumbfounded at the suddenly empty seat beside him before standing up himself. Hinata panicked even further and he nimbly raced to the left. Unfortunately, the cute server had just as sensitive instincts and he managed to block Hinata from left to right. Hinata began to sweat even more.

“I have to leave, asswipe!” Hinata hissed out through his teeth. The blond snickered at the insult, a smug grin on his face as Hinata bounced up and down on his toes in anxiety. “Let me go, asshole!”

“I’m sorry, sir, but I can’t allow you to keep those breadsticks.” The server pointed to his hastily buttoned shirt and _oh my god_ Hinata didn’t have time for this! The orange head shook his head, about to unbutton his shirt and let loose all of the golden goodness if he could just leave the establishment, but the blond asshole stopped him.

“But, I suppose I could let you off with a warning.”

“Okay, _whatever!_ Just let me go before I report you to your manager for terrible customer ser---” A warm pair of lips descended to his face. Hinata instantly stopped talking as his breath was too busy being caught in his throat. A warm, fluttery feeling erupted in his stomach worse than the harsh flames from the animatronic incident, and Hinata felt his cheeks blaze with fire.

The server chuckled, Hinata’s stomach flipping with the husky sound. He swallowed slowly, staring up into amber eyes twinkling with mischief and something else that forced butterflies to scratch at his itchy, parched throat while trying to claw its way out of his mouth.

Oh. _Oh._ Hinata vaguely felt the cute guy in front of him lazily play with a strand of his greasy hair before his slim fingers trailed down the side of his face, fire lighting up with each swirl of his fingertips being drawn and tattooed into his skin. Hinata could only gape, his eyes wide with shock as the man sensually placed a hand over his beating heart. The server slipped a piece of white paper into his breast pocket before removing his presence from Hinata. The smell of lavender filled his nose as the man slipped past him, weaseling out of his grasp with a slick smile on his face.

Hinata barely made it outside before he stooped to the side of the building, blended in with the shadows, and began to retch. He barely ate anything other than breadsticks since he never ordered in the first place, and only really puked out water. After wiping away his mouth with his sleeve, Hinata slumped against the cool wall, the comforting breeze of the night chilling his beading forehead and soothing his shaking bones. With jittery hands, he barely called Yuu for a ride home, ignoring the demands of what entailed at the date. Hinata didn’t know himself.

In five minutes flat, Yuu’s trusty old car pulled up to the entrance and Hinata was whisked away from the disastrous date and back to his apartment. Yuu at least had the decency to appear sheepish as Hinata explained what happened.

“I didn’t think he had such a huge crush on you, dude.”

“Where did you even find him?” Hinata asked, finally feeling better as Yuu brought him to a dessert place first. Hinata hungrily gobbled down the breadsticks with his friend in the car and they decided to spend some time at a quaint cafe close to the restaurant that served the best chocolate waffles with two scoops of vanilla ice cream. Currently, Yuu contently chewed on a piece of banana from his banana split while Hinata hungrily devoured a plate of chocolate waffles and another serving of strawberry crepes. He swallowed down a little bit of his banana milkshake with a swirly straw before summoning up the courage to read the note from the waiter.

“I dunno. Me and Ryuu were pretty desperate, honestly.” He sheepishly said, scratching his cheek with one finger as he spoke. “We asked everyone, like _everyone_ and at one point, Oikawa called me up and said that Ushijima was “single and lonely” so I set him up with you. I didn’t think he would propose though. That’s some real balls.” Yuu stroked his chin in thought while eating his chocolate ice cream. He shrugged after thinking for five seconds and noticed his friend staring at a white slip of paper the size of a fortune from a fortune cookie. Hinata wasn’t moving. Hell, he didn’t seem to be _breathing._

“Shouyou?” Yuu asked worriedly. Hinata only made a dying noise in the back of his throat as his reply. “Shouyou, what happened?”

“Oh my _god.”_ Hinata gasped out, gaping like a fish out of water as he reread the note over and over again. _Call me qt._ Next to his cute note was a number, followed by a cute drawing of what appeared to be a slice of cake with a lumpy strawberry on top. Hinata gulped.

He still vividly remembered the way the mysterious waiter knelt down, his too tall height a little endearing as he hunched his back in order to plant a kiss on Hinata’s cheek. Hinata warmed up at the thought of it, and he couldn’t stop the giddy smile beginning to play on his lips. Yuu eyed him critically. Finally, his eyes widened in comprehension and he pointed at Hinata accusingly.

“You scored some, didn’t you, Shouyou?!” Yuu yelped in excitement. He ignored the dirty look from the exhausted cashier and bounced up and down in his seat. The shorter male practically jumped on his friend to read the note and pried it out of Hinata’s very much dead fingers. His eyes scanned over the note before a huge smirk planted on his face.

“Wait till Ryuu sees this.”

“Oh my god.” Hinata wasn’t even listening to him. “He called me a cutie. He gave me his number. Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god.” The orange haired man parroted, a dopey smile on his lips as he kept biting his cheek to resist from squealing in joy.

“I’m so proud of you, man!” Yuu exclaimed, a sincerely happy grin on his face. Hinata finally revived from the dead with the biggest smile on his face yet.

“Me too! I’m going to text him now!” Hinata determinedly stated, whipping his phone out to create a new contact and inputting cutie’s number into his phone. He wrote “blond asshole with cute ass” in his phone along with a bunch of different heart and sparkle emojis before typing out a new message to the guy. He bit his lip; he knew that the waiter was most likely still working, but hopefully the other would respond back as soon as he was done with his shift.

 

**To: >>blond asshole with cute ass>> 20 June, 8:45pm**

 

**this is the guy at the restaurant!!!!!!!**

  


“Can I be your best man at your wedding?” Yuu asked. Hinata just bobbed his head up and down, too far in dreamland to comprehend his older friend’s words. Yuu whooped happily, finishing up the rest of his melting ice cream with a catchy tune he hummed that was stuck in his head. Hinata finished the rest of his food in a messy manner, licking his lips when he was done eating. The two split the fare and then raced each other back to the car. Hinata won while Yuu half heartedly complained how he was much older than Hinata now and how Hinata had a headstart in the first place, to which Hinata just rolled his eyes and ignored the other’s grumbling.

Hinata stared outside, the starry night sky matching the starry gleam in his large eyes. His grasp on his phone grew tighter, his lips wider and broader as he watched the scenery outside pass the car. The city was beautiful at night, with different neon colors catching his eye and food stalls still open on the streets with people crowding around with laughter and smiles.

Yuu drummed his fingers against the wheel to the tune of one of his favorite songs playing on the radio, and Hinata joined in on the harmless fun. At the next song, he belted out the notes like the car was their personal karaoke room and their clenched fists were the microphones. Hinata created guitar noises at the guitar solo part while Yuu sang terribly off key on purpose. The close friends wrapped up their night at Hinata’s apartment, with the younger male insisting that Yuu should stay over as a sleepover, which the latter eventually caved into.

Hinata giggled quietly to himself at hearing Yuu’s snores on his bed after the night full of fun. If only Ryuu was here…Meanwhile, he was lying down on a pulled out futon on the floor, a fuzzy blanket with polar bears knitted on the covering draped over his form as he rolled up into a blanket burrito with his arms poking out for easier access with his phone. He stared at the dark case for a long time, hoping for a message from the stranger that caught him stuffing breadsticks into his shirt.

After another five minutes, Hinata decided to give up and shut his eyes. He rolled over to his side to avoid temptation of checking his phone every few seconds, and willed sleep to manipulate him. He wanted to hurry up and fall asleep in order to wake up earlier and find out if the other texted him or not.

Hinata was counting sheep in his head when his phone vibrated and buzzed next to his pillow, a small beam of light lighting up the area around it. Hinata quickly rolled back over and gleefully unlocked his phone to discover a message from the other male.

 

**From: >>blond asshole with cute ass>> 21 June, 00:34**

 

**You’re lucky I know who you are. “This is the guy from the restaurant” doesn’t really help me narrow down the people I randomly give my number out to.**

 

**To: >>blond asshole with cute ass>> 21 June, 00:35**

 

**dont be rude !!! im hinata shouyou and i like volleyball!! wbu??**

 

**From: >>blond asshole with cute ass>> 21 June, 00:35**

 

**Tsukishima Kei.**

 

**To: >>SukiTsuki>> 21 June, 00:36**

 

**ok but what do u like ???**

 

**From: >>SukiTsukki>> 21 June, 00:36**

 

**For you to let me sleep.**

 

**To: >>SukiTsukki>> 21 June, 00:38**

 

**wait rly??? im sorry for bothering u tsukki !!! >o< ill let u sleep :^))) good nite**

 

**From: >>SukiTsukki>> 21 June, 00:39**

 

**I was just kidding. But, I am tired from work. I’ll talk to you tomorrow, Hinata. Good night.**

 

Hinata muffled his squeals in his blanket.

  


~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

  


Tsukishima didn’t know what compelled him to end up not only giving out his number to a random stranger he had never met in his life and then planting a big smooch on said stranger’s cheek, but he wasn’t one to regret his decisions. What’s done has been done, and he would deal with the consequences in an orderly, timely fashion. He preferred to be calm and rational instead of panicky and afraid in times like this, even as his heart threatened to leap straight out of his chest and onto the floor that he recently mopped.

“Tsukki?” Yamaguchi approached him with a concerned frown. “Are you okay? You’ve been out of it for the past two hours.” The brunette’s hand shot up to feel Tsukishima’s temperature, but the blond calmly pushed his friend’s hand away from his forehead. His eyes hardened back into steel flints as he continued to change out of his uniform in the employee lounge. At least no one else was around to experience Tsukishima’s completely dazed, blissed out expression. He looked almost _happy._

“Okay, if you say so…” Yamaguchi said suspiciously. He didn’t press further, thankfully, and dug out his backpack from the narrow gray locker before slamming the door shut. Tsukishima quickly wrapped his scarf around his neck, grabbed his own backpack, and shut the locker door. The taller male trailed after his friend this time as they closed the lights for the employee room before locking it up with their own copied keys. Yamaguchi and Tsukishima logged out their hours, and seeing as they were the last two employees still left in the dimmed restaurant other than the owner, the duo switched off all the lights and locked the doors behind them. Tsukishima walked Yamaguchi over to his motorcycle.

“Are you sure you’re going to be okay? Do you want me to drive you back home?” Yamaguchi fired off question after question. Tsukishima rolled his eyes, shifting the too warm scarf closer to his mouth.

“I’m fine, Yamaguchi.”

“Text me when you get home, okay?” Yamaguchi forced his friend to promise. After the reluctant nod from his best friend, Yamaguchi smiled and strapped on his helmet. “Good night, Tsukki. See you tomorrow at five.” Tsukishima nodded, parroting his own “good night” as he watched Yamaguchi rev up his motorcycle before taking off the empty streets, the moonlight dancing across his all black gear.

Tsukishima rifled through his things in his backpack for his headphones, and after untangling them from around his water bottle, he attached them to his smartphone and covered his ears with them. A catchy beat from his headphones filtered into his ears and he lightly bobbed his head up and down to the music. The drum solo was always his favorite, and his feet tapped satisfactorily against the cement to the beat of the music. He traveled from the restaurant over to the nearest bus stop and stopped in front of the sign.

 _I saw a text from the one guy, so he most likely texted me as soon as he read the note._ The thought of the cute customer floundering around until finally typing in a random response caused his heart to fly. He was oddly joyful, much more bright than he was attuned to; if the stranger was a sun, than Tsukishima was the moon, forever shining just by the sun’s bright rays and quite content with the attention from the sun.

Tsukishima boarded the bus as soon as it rolled around. As expected, only a handful of passengers still wandered around during the darkness of the night and none of them paid any attention to another person boarding. The blond sat down in the back, staring up to the front as the day’s exhausting events unraveled from his body and he slumped back against the seat. He stayed alert, however, just in case he were to fall asleep and miss his stop. The male lived alone in his own apartment conveniently close to the bakery he worked at but a little farther away from the restaurant.

The whole ride home, his eyes couldn’t help lingering to the street lamps as bright and orange as a certain person that invaded his thoughts since the moment he set eyes on the other. A bright sunny smile broke out from the clouds of normal gray that Tsukishima was accustomed to, and he became utterly enchanted and addicted to the sweet saccharine like smile that melted his heart and shook his knees like an earthquake.

Tsukishima sighed, glancing down at the message with fond eyes. He really was a sap, wasn’t he? The blond shifted in his seat, stared outside the window, and listened to the upbeat music singing into his veins. If he smiled to himself in the shadows of the night, no one needed to know except himself.

 

 


	2. but i dont regret it one bit

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Second part of this meme trash story.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> h ow doe sone write????
> 
> unbeta'd, etc
> 
> i might write another chapter bc this ending is SHIT
> 
> my bad :3c
> 
> ps. i fu cking LOVE nonbinary kenma so fight me if you got problems with trans characters : )

 

 

“Is this seat taken?” Hinata, in a frantic rush to appear fine, nodded and squawked out an affirmative. He checked his phone one more time with a slight furrow of his eyebrows, thumbing down past his notifications and finding none from the person he wanted it from most. The seat across from his skidded against the floor in a rough manner before a velvety, very familiar voice sounded in his ears.

“It’s rude to ignore your date, you know.” Hinata immediately snapped his head up to find a smirking Tsukishima seated across from him with his chin resting in the palm of his large hand. Hinata sighed in relief, but his relief was short lived as apprehension surged in next to replace his agitation.

Hinata snorted, “I’m sorry, your majesty. I’ll be sure to pay attention to you from now on.” He paused before adding, “Asshole.” Tsukishima snorted too, a sign of his laughter at Hinata’s obvious sarcasm. The orange haired man pretended his heart didn’t just flutter from Tsukishima’s cute laugh nor the fond twinkle in his amber eyes.

“You better, shorty.” Tsukishima teased, flipping his menu over to decide what he wanted to eat. Hinata tensed at the nickname and bristled. Just because he was almost the average height of a Japanese male didn’t mean he was some gremlin or something. Hinata grumbled profanities to himself. He stirred his sprite drink with a white straw; the bubbles rose to the surface with each push of his straw against the ice cubes, much like his feelings of affection for the other man.

“Shut up and order, ass prick.” The blond snorted at the atrocious nickname.

“I can punt you across a soccer field and score, orange fucker.” Hinata was literally one straw away from pummeling Tsukishima to the ground and beating him up with his messenger bag. Instead, he thrust the fantasies away from his murderous mind and scowled up at the smug as ever Tsukishima. How was he on a date with this asshole again?

Hinata eyed Tsukishima’s toned arms from the short sleeve he was wearing with a slightly guilty expression. Damn toned arms. Damn feelings for said attractive toned arms connecting to the smuggest asshole with the hottest face that made Hinata want to partly smack his smirk off or aggressively snog it off. Both. Both sound good.

“Oi!” Hinata snapped out of his reverie. Tsukishima cocked an eyebrow at him, swinging his head to his right to indicate the awaiting server staring at him patiently. Hinata flushed, ducking his head down to read off the nearest thing on his menu.

“U-Um, I’ll have the B Lunch Set. Thanks.” Hinata weakly smiled to the server as he handed them his menu while inwardly groaning. Way to be smooth, he berated himself. Tsukishima continued to stare at him intensely, as if trying to solve all the world’s mysteries by peering at the shorter male. Suddenly, a wicked grin curled around Tsukishima’s lips like a vine around a tree trunk. Hinata didn’t like the look.

“Have something you want to share, Hinata?” Tsukishima practically sang. Hinata twitched guiltily and twiddled his thumbs underneath the table. Fuck, he was caught in a trap. Tsukishima continued, “Seems secret, huh?” Hinata cursed the candy coloring his cheeks that brightened his neck and ears to reveal the lightly dotted freckles all across his body. He shyly tucked a strand of loose orange hair behind his ear for he found comfort in the little act before staring up at Tsukishima through his long eyelashes.

Tsukishima looked _wrecked._ Hinata’s blush worsened at the wide eyed glance coming from Tsukishima while the usually asshole looking male wore a light bubblegum pink across his cheeks like a decorative wreath. _Oh. Oh, no._ Hinata swore mentally as he buried his face into his tiny hands and hoped that he didn’t resemble too much like he belonged in the tomato family.

His date cleared his throat first, an almost feeble attempt to appear less enamored than he felt and more like the douchebag he kept up as his front. Hinata peeked out from between his fingers, and _oh, oh fucking no,_ that was too fucking cute he could just _die_. Tsukishima’s heart stuttered uncontrollably and the fucking heart police was about to pull him over for speeding and he would be subjected to having a goddamn heart attack.

“Y-Yeah.” Hinata puffed up his cheeks with his eyes closed to not lose any of his shredding confidence or determination, “I was staring at your arms.” Tsukishima’s pupil dilated for one split second before he was back to being unreadable--a monotone jerk. Hinata gulped nervously, his adam’s apple bobbing up and down as a stutter in his body.

“...Irritating.” Tsukishima mumbled to himself, feeling off from the onslaught of adorableness emitting from the tiny male. Hinata perked up at the insult before a scowl wormed its way on his face.

Hinata stuck out his tongue childishly. “Yet you’re dating this “irritating” person.” Only to nearly recoil from his words. Was that moving too fast? On a scale of snail to Ushijima, was that too fast? Or was he just thinking too much into this joke that was slowly becoming reality?

“Yeah.” Tsukishima’s comforting hand enveloped over his smaller one on the table. Hinata glanced up to meet the other’s sparkling latte eyes. His heart thrummed in his throat. “I am.” Hinata descended down from this complicated love hell and decided that maybe, just maybe, he would be okay with allowing Tsukishima to win over his heart.

  


~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

  


Tsukishima simply nodded as Yamaguchi babbled on about something or another that the blond didn’t have the mental capacity to comprehend at the moment. All his brain could do was replay the moment when Hinata flushed pleasantly down to his toes with a smile rivalling the sun itself while softened chocolate eyes gazed up at him with awe and joy. Tsukishima only knew one person that stared up at him like that, and that was Yamaguchi when they were both still in primary school before Tsukishima became a cold, indifferent stone hearted bitch.

Hinata was something ethereal, something so pure and bright like a spark of light he longed to cradle in his frigid hands colder than the tundras in his empty heart. Everything about the short male screamed innocence, and a part of Tsukishima desired to corrupt that kind innocence, to taint the other with his freezing fingers and keeping him in his grasp. This manipulation was so unlike himself that Tsukishima nearly slapped himself across the face.

“Tsukki?” Yamaguchi gingerly touched his friend’s shoulder. Tsukishima jumped at the touch before slowly swinging his eyes over to the brunette’s worried face. He breathed out through his nose and swore at himself; the blond wasn’t supposed to be zoning out at the thought of his date. Or was it boyfriend now? They never really discussed their new relationship, but judging by the way the shorter male’s starry eyes trained on him whenever he thought Tsukishima wasn’t looking, the blond wasn’t the only one with a pining problem.

“I’m…Fine.” He spoke, despite feeling as if he was being dunked into a world full of endearing lip gestures, sunshine locks, and pumpkin spice scents. Tsukishima adopted an almost kind glint in his eye as he shifted until he leaned back against Yamaguchi’s headpost attached to his bed. Yamaguchi eyed him curiously, but otherwise didn’t pry in his friend’s business. Whatever--or whoever--managed to change the usually snarky blond must have been something--or someone--important to Tsukishima.

“If you say so,” he doubtedly said, “but I still think something happened to you.” Tsukishima sighed. He decided to give in to the other’s curiosity by describing the orange haired man with sparkling chocolate eyes and a wild outlook on life. Yamaguchi carefully listened in, masking his surprise at how animated Tsukishima became with erratic hand gestures and insults spewing out of his mouth like a waterfall. Yamaguchi knew better.

“--and he began to stuff breadsticks up his shirt. What sane person does that?” Tsukishima rhetorically asked with a sneer, as if the mere thought of someone committing that act personally offended him. Yamaguchi chuckled.

“He sounds like a handful.”

“I _know._ He’s literally the embodiment of annoyance. He’s more annoying than _Kuroo,_ and that’s saying something.” Tsukishima declared as he pushed up his sliding off glasses in the midst of his story.

“Wasn’t that a meme or something?” Yamaguchi thoughtfully questioned, stroking his chin as he spoke. Tsukishima stared. Then, an irritated expression that could almost be described as fond passed over his face in a fleeting second. Yamaguchi was the one staring this time.

“Unbelievable.” Tsukishima literally tore off his hoodie to reach for his jean pocket buried underneath all the fabric. Reaching inside, he pulled out his smartphone and unlocked it with twitching fingers. Yamaguchi just continued to eye his friend before scooting a little away from him.

“Are you texting him right now?”

“Yeah.” Tsukishima grit his teeth. “The little piece of shit.” Yamaguchi snickered to the side. He enjoyed watching his friend actually entertaining himself for once without having to knock anyone down a peg. Tsukishima didn’t seem to realize yet that the expression on his face could be read as longing, fondness, and love. Yamaguchi sighed through his nose.

Tsukishima snickered aloud. _He’s so cute when he tries to defend himself. Wait._ His eyes widened at his brain. _Are these… Emotions? Am I feeling happy with this idiot? What the actual fuck?_ Tsukishima grew confused at the complicated feelings rising up from his cold stone heart. He hadn’t felt this way since he was a young boy again, still hopelessly believing in his older brother as the ace of the volleyball team and boasting about him like a snivelling brat.

“You’ve changed a bit, Tsukki.” Yamaguchi pointed out. Tsukishima wrinkled his nose, a habit learned from spending too much time daydreaming about a certain person and actually spending time with him.  

“Yeah, right.”

“I’m serious! You’re less prickly around the edges and more…”

“I’m _not_ growing soft.”

Yamaguchi laughed, “I never said that! I meant that you’re more open, I guess.” Yamaguchi stared down at his cup of cooling tea. “It’s nice.”

Guilt washed over Tsukishima like a tidal wave. He always knew about his cold demeanor, even around his best childhood friend, and he couldn’t help but feel remorse over his actions and words sent towards a patient Yamaguchi. The guy was a literal god send with the patience of a saint, and Tsukishima was an asshole for so many years towards him. He didn’t deserve Yamaguchi in his honest opinion, and it wasn’t right for him to treat his friend like he was disposable at any time, when in reality, Tsukishima was the weaker person. He relied on and took complete advantage of Yamaguchi because he _knew_ that Yamaguchi would stay, even with all of Tsukishima’s biting remarks and cold attitude. And from his insecurities with his older brother and the trust issues sprouted from that incident all those years ago, he kept Yamaguchi at an arm’s length; disposable, as he’s said before.

“Sorry.” He pushed aside his pride for a moment. Yamaguchi blinked at him in shock. “I’m sorry that I treated you like shit for so many years.”

“Tsukki, _no.”_ Yamaguchi began, “You didn’t--”

“ _Yes,_ I did.” Tsukishima snapped. He inhaled slowly. “And I know an apology won’t make up for my mistakes in the past. All I can hope is that you’ll continue to be my friend.” Tsukishima said in determination. It was time he started to move on from the past, after all. Hinata wasn’t the sole reason why he began to understand himself better and confront his inner conflicts; he was just the tipping edge that made Tsukishima realize all his flaws and mistakes. The chaos within him seemed to mellow down after the accumulation of his problems overflowed and he began to think rationally.

Tsukishima was all the more glad he met Hinata Shouyou than ever.

_Ping!_

**From: >>bane of my existence>> 23 June, 3:51 pm**

 

**ur just a meanie who cant appreciate modern humor :P memes are gr8 and ur just an old man anyway !!**

 

Tsukishima snorted, typing up his own response with butterflies soaring into his besotted mind. Across from him, Yamaguchi hid his smile in his black mug and blacker cold tea.

**To: >>bane of my existence>> 23 June, 3:53 pm**

 

**Well, for one, I’m not a prepubescent five year old with a childish humor. By the way, are you free tomorrow around noon? I don’t have to work from 12-5, so I can meet up with you at Eternal Happiness Cafe.**

 

Only a second later and Hinata’s response dinged to the sound of his heartbeat. The sound bounced across the room. He smiled.

 

**From: >>bane of my existence>> 23 June, 3:53 pm**

 

**ye!! I’ll see you then!! : )**

  


~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

  


Hinata couldn’t believe his luck. He only met Tsukishima three days ago and already the other was texting him nonstop! It grew to the point that even Kageyama began to complain about his lack of social contact with anyone else. Hinata merely waved him off, his fingers immediately drawn back to his phone as he typed back something snarky to his just as snarky crush. Boyfriend? Whatever they were.

Hinata bounced around his kitchen; he decided to bake chocolate chip muffins for Tsukishima, even if the asshole didn’t deserve it. Hinata grinned to himself, already imagining how the other would react once Hinata threw a bag of muffins at his dumb hot face. Fuck.

The short male danced across the kitchen, flitting back and forth to gather ingredients for his famous recipe of delicious chocolate chip muffins. He always stocked well for desserts since he loved to bake (the only cooking he could do, he later discovered after burning yet another pot when trying to boil water) so he never ran out of ingredients for his creations. At the moment, he was stirring the wet ingredients with the dry in a huge bowl with tiny pink rabbits across the white design.

“Talk to me baby, I’m going blind from this sweet, sweet craving, whoa!” Hinata sang loudly (and awfully) as he spun around a circle in the kitchen to the beat. His hips swayed with his body like a drunk hippo while he thrust his whisk with chocolate batter up in the air as the beat began to resonate throughout his apartment and his body. As he was filling up the batter into cute dinosaur baking cups, someone knocked on his door. Hinata instantly quieted down his voluminous music in case one of his neighbors was going to complain about how loud he was before travelling over to the door. He opened the door with no restraint held back, revealing two familiar figures standing at his doorstep.

“Kenma! Tetsuro!” Hinata chirped happily, stepping back to gesture for them to step into his humble abode. Kenma smiled timidly, shuffling into the apartment and delicately toeing off their shoes in an orderly fashion. Tetsuro followed in after his significant other, just with a messier way as he flung the shoes to one side while lazily stepping into the given slippers from the host. After a glare from Kenma, Tetsuro aligned his shoes neatly next to Kenma’s before trailing after the duo.

“How are you, Kenma? Business good? Do you want tea? I’m making some chocolate chip muffins if you want! I know you usually like cinnamon sugar, but I’m making them for that jerk I told you about.” Hinata rapidly babbled. He resumed filling up each cute baking cup with the batter as he chatted mirthfully with both parties.

“Oho? Who’s this mysterious jerk, chibi?” Tetsuro had that conniving smirk on his face as he leaned against the counter cradling a mug full of hot chocolate courtesy of Hinata. Hinata blinked before a wide, albeit shy grin stretched his cheeks. He forgot to tell Kenma’s boyfriend all about the incident, and now that he had to relive the embarrassing moment, he kind of wanted to avoid it. Instead, he sighed exaggeratedly before leaning forward on his dining table. In response, Kuroo copied his actions like they were about to discuss a few shady deals.

“So, uh, you know Yuu and Ryuu--err Ryuunosuke, right? Nishinoya and Tanaka,” he hadn’t referred to his friends by their surnames in _years_ , so actually saying them sounded foreign to his ears, “and they kind of set me on a blind date?”

“You don’t sound too happy about it.” Tetsuro noted bluntly, his sly grin still present on his face. Kenma elbowed him to the side, but they were ignored by their boyfriend.

“Yeah, well, not exactly one of my proudest moments to be honest.” Hinata admitted as he rubbed the back of his heating neck. “So, I was kind of paired with Ushijima, and yeah. Misunderstandings happened. I shoved breadsticks down my shirt. They were good breadsticks though.”

Tetsuro blinked. Then, he began to chortle loudly. “Breadsticks and Ushijima? Sounds like a wild night.”

“Tetsuro.” Kenma warned, but Hinata waved them off with a cheery smile. He wasn’t as affected by embarrassing situations as he used to be as a younger adult; nowadays, he learned to just embrace the past, especially with how he was steadily growing older.

“So, Ryuu and Yuu set me up with Ushijima because of Oikawa or something and I meet him at this fancy Italian restaurant, which is where I met this asshole waiter, for this blind date.” Hinata babbled, unaware of the recognition in Tetsuro’s eyes and the sleazy grin growing on his face. Kenma still shot him a warning glare, that went unnoticed by the other as Hinata continued, “and like Ushijima just suddenly said marriage out of the blue? So, I just assumed he was trying to say that we should get married, and I was like _whoa, that’s going way too fast_ and I got nervous. And like Yuu and Ryuu are the ultimate meme bros so they’re always saying memes whenever I’m around, so I saw the breadsticks and just suddenly did the breadstick meme?”

“Wait, seriously?” Tetsuro asked in an impressed tone. Hinata nodded sagely, his voice and face growing dark. He lightened up after causing a bone chilling tingle down his friends’ spines and cheerfully continued.

“Yeah, so that’s when I meet this asshole who seemed okay at first but then he was being rude? And he had the worst smirk, like worse than yours, Tetsuro.”

“You wound me so.” Tetsuro smirked.

“Shut up.” Hinata snipped back with no heat. “And then he was like, “joined together”.” Hinata imitated Ushijima’s gruff voice as best as he could, eliciting another chuckle from the raven haired male and a tiny smile from his non-binary friend.

“And I panicked, so I was like, “I’m sorry, my sister is dying,” and holy shit I just started stuffing all the breadsticks into my shirt cause they were too good to waste, you know? And next thing I know, I’m running out on Ushijima and this asshole waiter stops me and ugh. He makes me so mad.”

“Who is this waiter of yours, Sho?” Hinata blinked, not quite comprehending the huge grin on Tetsuro’s face.

“Uh, Tsukishima Kei. I just call him Tsukki because it annoys him though. Why?” Tetsuro suddenly whooped, jumping up to his feet with a victorious grin high on his cheekbones. Hinata blinked in confusion, staring over at Kenma who was face palming with a disgruntled frown on their face.

“I KNEW IT! KOU SO OWES ME MONEY!” The tallest male crowed.

“Uh, what does this have to do with Koutarou?” Hinata nervously asked. He instantly regretted his question when Tetsuro’s cat like slits turned to him with the most deviously smug glint in his eye that Hinata was having more flashbacks of his high school years playing against his enemy turned friends, sweat rolling down his face.

“Because, Sho-chan,” Tetsuro practically sang, “I knew that you were talking about our dear Tsukki, but Koutarou bet against me and said it was a different asshole that we didn’t know.”

“Oh. Wait, how much did you bet?”

“Don’t ask him that, Shouyou.” Kenma wisely advised, but it was too late. If possible, Tetsuro’s huge grin enveloped his whole face and would have swallowed him up if he continued to grin so widely. Tetsuro calmly sat back down to sip on his hot chocolate.

“His whole paycheck the next time he gets paid.” Hinata’s eyebrows shot up to the ceiling. Koutarou was also a famous volleyball player while his boyfriend, Akaashi, was his spokesperson/manager. Koutarou played on the Japanese Olympic volleyball team with Kageyama, so the two were often together due to their similar schedules. An unlikely friendship bloomed between the volleyball players, much to Tetsuro’s jealous chagrin.

“Damn. That’s a shit ton of money.” Hinata said in amazement. Kenma nodded sagely, most likely upset from the high risk gamble that could have been potentially harmful. Well, with Kenma’s income from their own video game company and Tetsuro’s job as a famous tattoo artist paid well enough, so Hinata didn’t know why it was blown to bigger proportions than necessary.

“Kou makes more than me and Akaashi combined so I just basically won the lottery!” Kuroo excitedly exclaimed. Kenma rolled their eyes before reverting their attention back to the Nintendo DS in front of them.

“Wow, I wish I was in on this bet. I would be able to pay my rent for the next two years.” Hinata joked. Tetsuro’s lips tugged up as well, but he didn’t comment. “Anyway, I guess we’re friends now?”

 _“Friends?”_ Kenma and Tetsuro echoed in disbelief. Hinata cocked his head to the side.

“Yeah? Why? Should I not be friends with him or something? Like I get it that he’s an asshole, but he’s like Kageyama when I first met him, so. I don’t think that’ll be a problem.” Hinata confusedly said. The couple exchanged an exasperated look.

“What?” Hinata demanded, slightly offended as they gave him a pitying look. Even Kenma shook their head at the other’s oblivious nature. Tetsuro smiled crookedly before sipping his cool drink.

“I don’t think he wants to be just friends, Shouyou.” Kenma calmly stated the obvious. Hinata’s eyes widened as if he just heard of the most wonderful news. The shortest male in the room’s eyes sparkled with glee in tints of gold and amber. Like a wheat field swaying in the wind, Hinata’s shining orbs filled his friends’ with warm sunshine and fond affection.

“Wait, seriously?!” Hinata exclaimed, nearly jumping up and flying through the air had Kenma not recognized their friend’s signs and brilliantly perform a sly move in tugging the back of Hinata’s hood. Tetsuro literally laughed at how excited the other was becoming while Hinata fervently switched his gaze from the timer to his friends’ encouraging looks.

“Calm down, Shouyou.” Kenma eyed Hinata warily, as if the shortest male would do something completely reckless, like say, run over to Tsukishima at the moment and leave his oven to burn down his apartment (which he has nearly done before).

“Oh my god. I can’t believe he actually likes me, what the fuck?” Hinata babbled endlessly, fanning himself with a nearby abandoned magazine he randomly threw on the table all those months ago. The couple exchanged amused looks; obviously, they could not reach Hinata at the moment for he was completely zoned out and delusional.

“Shou.” Tetsuro tried.

“--and he’s always so like chill and he never seems to really flirt? Like I’ve tried and everything. Here, look.” Hinata reached for his phone and pulled up the texts between him and Tsukishima. Kenma flinched when their friend thrust the device in their face, eyebrows scrunching up at the brightness of the phone inflicting damage on their eyes. They didn’t want to pry, even if the conversation was gladly being shown to them.

“Shou, the oven.” Tetsuro continued, pointing insistently at the oven that was beeping. Somehow, Hinata didn’t seem to notice through his endless stream of chattering. Tetsuro tilted his head to the side to indicate that he would shut the oven off and Kenma nodded in relief. The bedhead man escaped the room to prevent an apartment fire, leaving behind a frantic Hinata and an uninterested Kenma. This happened on a daily basis anyway.

“--and that’s why I think he doesn’t like me.” Hinata finally finished with a deep breath. Kenma would have whistled like their boyfriend at how long Hinata managed to talk without pausing to even _breath_ for a single second, but they were not as shameless as Kuroo so…

“Shou, breath.” Kenma advised, worriedly glancing at Hinata as he inhaled oxygen with a gaping fish mouth. “Oh, and Tetsuro shut off your oven.”

“MY MUFFINS!” Hinata screeched in horror. He dove over to the kitchen and in his haste, managed to pull the chair he was sitting on out from the table to slam hard against the floor and hit Tetsuro square in the chest. They fell like dominoes and Kenma could only blink at the insanity that happened in the matter of ten seconds. They shook their head and resumed their game to the sound of Hinata spluttering out apologies and Tetsuro laughing in the background.

“Oh my god, I’m so so so sorry, Tetsuro! I swear to god, I blanked out and I’m supposed to stop cause Tobio always tells me to stop babbling but Tsukki just always brings out the worst in me? And I know it’s a shitty excuse, holy shit _I am so sorry.”_

Tetsuro just chortled. “You’re fine, chibi. This happens often enough that I’ve grown used to it by now.” He winked at Hinata, who was caught between nervously laughing and paling at the implication. That meant he was more of a wreck than he thought.

“What am I going to do?” The realization socked him right in the face. Tetsuro rose a fine eyebrow at him.

“What?”

“Tsukki… He’s like the complete opposite of me.” Hinata whispered, eyes honing in on the splash of random light pink in the sea of cream painted on his wall.

“So?” Tetsuro didn’t understand what exactly was the problem.

“So… He’s going to _hate_ me if we ever move in together.” Hinata gasped, cupping his hands together to place over his mouth. He gazed back up anxiously to his friend. “And when he realizes how much of a clumsy slob I am, he’s going to break up with me, move to like Kansas, and get a new girlfriend and laugh about how horrible I was and I’ll just be crying and crying like that one time when we watched _Brokeback Mountain,_  which I _swear_ is still sad to this day---”

“Whoa, calm down there, Shouyou.” Tetsuro flicked the younger’s forehead. “You’re becoming another Ushijima with how fast you’re moving.” Hinata instantly shut up.

“I know I always jest and shit, but I know one thing for sure: our moon child is _so_ in love with you, it pains me to be in the same room as his thirsty, desperate ass.”

Hinata giggled. The tension in his body rolled off like sand in the wind and he sagged back down from his taut high. Tetsuro guided Hinata back over to the kitchen table and sat him back down on the fixed  hair.

“Now, calm yourself, and get ready for your date with him.”

“But I don’t have a--” Hinata remembered how Tsukishima never replied to his response of whether or not they were still on for today’s date. He automatically assumed Tsukishima was called back into his busy work life and didn’t have the time to respond back, but judging by his friend’s smug smile, an important update happened. Tetsuro merely flashed him a pearly smile at the same instance his phone was whipped out from his pocket.

Hinata quieted faster than lightning at the same time color drained from his cheeks. Kenma was vaguely impressed. Tetsuro was smiling even wider than when he discovered he won the bet.

 

**From: >>tsukki tsukki love>> 24 June, 1:31pm**

 

**Don’t you fucking dare. I’ll be there in five.**

 

Hinata didn’t know what Tetsuro could have sent to drag out such a defensive response from Tsukishima, but he didn’t want to know either. Tetsuro clicked his tongue as he shoved his phone back into his pocket. Hinata wondered if this was what sinners felt when they entered holy ground.

“So, Shouyou.” Tetsuro peered at him through half lidded eyes as a cat would do when it was satisfied with something. “I expect your payment to be a $50 amazon gift card.” Hinata stepped back at the same time his friend followed him into the corner.

He sweat nervously. “Wha--” Tetsuro pounced.

  


~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

  


When Tsukishima received a bunch of annoying texts from his so called acquaintance and actual bane of his life, Kuroo Tetsuro, the blond initially brushed them off. This became a daily occurrence between the duo ever since they met at the bar Kuroo worked at: banter back and forth, Tsukishima ignoring the other for a long period of time until the alerts drove him insane, and repeat. It was like washing your hair every other day with how mundane their routine became.

Finally, he couldn’t stand the obnoxious interruptions on his phone as he tried to check his emails and bank account, so Tsukishima went to his inbox to check his messages. About two of them were from Hinata and Yamaguchi while the rest of them (about fifteen messages) were from Kuroo. Fucking great.

Tsukishima rolled his eyes; he was already prepared for an onslaught of either a) dirty pictures found on pinterest of all places, b) cat memes he showed to Kenma already or c) bad puns and an inquiry of when the two would meet again. To his utter surprise, it was none of them.

Instead, Tsukishima was (delightfully) bombarded with pictures of--surprise, surprise!--his tiny little crush parading around a spacious, lively kitchen in nothing but daisy printed shorts peeking out beneath a white over-sized shirt and to top it off, a flowery pastel blue apron wrapped around his adorably small form. Tsukishima didn’t know whether to yell at Kuroo for sending him the cute pictures or to actually show his gratitude by buying Kuroo that cat mug he always wanted.

Well, his decision was made up once he actually read the texts. Tsukishima _fumed._

 _This sack of fucking shit! He better be fucking lying or I swear to god I will rip his hair off strand by strand, that little fucker._ Tsukishima grit his teeth. At the bottom of the messages, beside the horrible kissy emojis all around the message, was a simple address with a winky face next to it. Tsukishima copied the address down and pasted it onto google maps. After finding out that the apartment was close to Yamaguchi’s, Tsukishima grabbed his keys, wallet, and hoodie before prying the door open and slamming it behind him. He didn’t care if the neighbors filed a complaint for the noise. Screw those sensitive assholes anyway!

 

**From: >>admit im ur best friend tsukki~>> 24 June, 1:26pm**

 

**he’s gonna bang ushijima probably lol. if not, ive been talking wiith kenma about threesomes…. ;))))**

 

**To: >>you little piece of shit>> 24 June, 1:31pm**

 

**Don’t you fucking dare. I’ll be there in five.**

  


~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

  


“I fucking hate you.” Hinata glared at the scheming Tetsuro and barely smiling Kenma who hid their lips behind the console in their hands. Hinata stared at himself in horror; he felt like a cheap Mr. Potato children played with as they plucked off eyes, lips, and other body parts to misconstrue the poor toy’s face. Hinata didn’t like the slicked back hair look on him and he couldn’t resist running his fingers through the gelled down locks. It was worth it, even when Tetsuro slapped his hand away with a much too gleeful grin.

“You look smoking, good looking.”

Hinata rolled his eyes. “Har-har-har. Nice try, Tetsuro. Now, I’m gonna actually change into something decent before Tsukki comes and laughs in my face and I’ll be forced to move to Canada to escape this embarrassment.” Hinata flipped over to the opposite direction in order to move to his closet, but Tetsuro beat him to it. The other’s impish grin didn’t help the nerves buzzing in Hinata’s stomach.

“Tetsuro.” Hinata warned, raising a fist in case the taller tried anything funny. Tetsuro responded with his hands put up in a defensive manner.

“Just hear me out.” Tetsuro nearly pleaded; he exaggeratedly curled his fingers into a fist--a begging position that Hinata’s eye twitched at. Kenma still wasn’t helping, the traitor.

“I am not afraid to _beat the shit out of you_ , so get out of the fucking way before Tsukki arrives--”

 _KNOCK KNOCK!_ Hinata froze. Kenma sensed their best friend’s brain processing the moment and quickly side stepped out of the way before the shit storm hit. Tetsuro was still grinning, but he wouldn’t be for long.

“That better not be Tsukki.” The ring from a new message on Tetsuro’s phone and the curl of his lips told otherwise. Hinata’s whole body twitched.

“Well, too late to change!” Tetsuro practically sang in accomplishment. Meanwhile, Hinata’s body began to spasm more like he was cast in _The Conjuring_ as the one with a demon inside of him before he abruptly stopped.

“Unbelievable.” He deadpanned. Then, he sprung up on Tetsuro with his fists raised and decked the other right in the jaw. “I’M GOING TO FUCKING KILL YOU, TETSURO!”

Tetsuro’s squeals of help were unheard of. The knocking resumed on the door, the sounds becoming more rushed as time dragged on. Hinata bellowed out a war cry. In the midst of it all, Kenma sighed through their nose. They knew they should have met Akaashi up at the new cafe around the corner.

Nonetheless, Kenma--brave, pure cinnamon roll too good and patient for this world Kenma--proceeded on with the chaotic train called life (that was slowly spiraling into the ocean after crashing off course off a fucking cliff) and left the room where murder was happening. They ignored the pained groans from Tetsuro and the beast like screams from Hinata as they traveled over to the front door and easily unlatched the locks. When they slid the door open, a familiar tall beanstalk with light blond hair quirked an eyebrow at them.

“I’m assuming Kuroo is here, then.” Kenma just nodded as an answer and awkwardly scooted back against the wall to allow Tsukishima to slip off his shoes in a polite fashion that belittled his rude attitude before the taller male stepped into the quaint home. Hinata was still screeching out profanities, Tetsuro was still trying to defend himself in a futile attempt, and the other two just sat at the kitchen table, eating delicious muffins in an almost content silence between the two as they waited for their respective friends to emerge from the closet (literally).

Finally, _finally,_ Tetsuro limped out of the room with a twitch in his eye, a hunched over body, and bruises littering his face and body like cheetah print. Hinata finally quieted down after five minutes and refused to come out of the bathroom until everyone left but Kenma.

“What did you do?” Tsukishima asked curiously. Tetsuro only moaned in pain in response, nursing his swollen jaw with tender fingers and a pack of frozen peas. Kenma was no help towards their lover (it _was_ his fault for egging on the next karate kid after all), but at least they closed their DS in favor of zoning out on the table.

“Tetsuro decided that provoking Shouyou would be a good idea.” The faux blond actually snorted. Incredible.

Tsukishima’s eyebrow still remained in its quirked position and it was beginning to hurt. “How did he fuck up that bad?”

“Shut up.” Tetsuro grit out, hissing in pain from the movement of his jaw. “I keep forgetting Shou took like five bodybuilding classes and a taekwondo class after he quit volleyball.”

“DAMN STRAIGHT!” Hinata called out from the confines of his locked bedroom.

“Wow.” Tsukishima said in a monotone voice. He was secretly impressed by his crush’s determination and will (not to mention toned body), but he wouldn’t say it aloud. Unluckily for the blond, both Tetsuro and Kenma were formidable friends that were more observant than was allowed socially. Tsukishima schooled his face into the same blank one he always put up, but he had a feeling the technique was failing today (and well, every day since he met Hinata Shouyou).

“FUCKING TETSURO! DID YOU _HAVE_ TO PUT IN SO MUCH GEL?!” Hinata complained loudly. Splashes of water wildly flying in the air could be heard as the other fervently tried to scrub out the hair gel. Tetsuro winced, but he managed an entirely evil smile.

In two minutes, Hinata stepped into the dining room with a super crimson face from all the scrubbing he dealt on his face. The other attire he wore before that would put a cross between a gothic punk and stripper to shame was finally tugged off and tossed into the trash can. Instead, Hinata wore comfy yoga pants and an over-sized tank top to show off his nice build. And _no,_ Tsukishima did _not_ gulp like a fucking starving man about to feast.

Hinata’s scowl was becoming alarmingly hotter as Tsukishima continued to stare, and he berated himself when he noticed the all too knowing looks from his “friends”. Fortunately, Hinata was too caught up in his rage against Tetsuro to notice a thing.

“I fucking hate you so much.” Hinata growled lowly. He stomped over to his kitchen and the refrigerator door slammed harshly against the wall adjacent to it. He returned to the dining room with a whole pack of _Yakult_ drinks that appeared way more cute with his pursed pink lips curved into a pout. Tsukishima nearly physically slapped himself across the face to banish the invasive love struck thoughts.

“Love you too, shoyu ramen.” Tetsuro smirked, though the face was a little ridiculous with the amount of black and blue dotted across his face. Tsukishima rolled his eyes at the other and decided to busy himself with sipping on some tea to quell his urge to comment.

“Call me that again _one more fucking time_ and I’ll _make_ you into shoyu ramen, Kuroo Tetsuro.” Tsukishima shivered at the threatening tone and the animalistic gleam in Hinata’s eye that accompanied. Despite Tetsuro’s easygoing smile, his body quivered lightly if you squinted hard enough and even Kenma scooted a little closer to Tsukishima.

“Noted.” Tetsuro wisely stated, and Hinata huffed out a haughty breath before planting himself firmly down at the head of the table. The beast like aura dissipated into thin air and the room could breath again.

“Tetsuro.” Kenma and Tetsuro eyed each other for an uncomfortable ten seconds before Tetsuro faced the group again with a cheery grin. He hurriedly gathered up the dirty dishes he and his significant other used, placed them in Hinata’s kitchen sink, and then returned to the table with a bounce in his step. Whatever eye fucking they did did _not_ warrant unwanted thoughts of what they two were about to do.

“Right, we’ll be going now! Don’t miss us too much, Tsukihina!”

 _“Tsukihina?”_ The two in question parroted. Tetsuro nodded in satisfaction. He didn’t elaborate on the subject and dragged Kenma away to the front door. Hinata followed in confusion, waving his goodbyes to his two best friends as they literally sprinted away from the apartment complex (well, more like Tetsuro ran while dragging Kenma behind him like a limp doll). Hinata scratched his head.

“Well, that was weird.” Hinata commented. He found Tsukishima in the hallway connecting to his bedroom scanning through the photo frames of Hinata with his family and friends. One of the pictures depicted Hinata and Kageyama bickering softly, the camera’s shutter perfectly capturing the argument between the close companions. It was like a piece of the past survived to the present, and Hinata would find himself staring at the frames whenever he felt awfully sad or nostalgic.

“Who’s the guy always scowling?” Tsukishima asked casually.

“Hmm? Oh, you mean Mr. Grumpy over there?” Hinata pointed at a picture of teenager Kageyama staring off to the side with a scowl worse than the Grinch while a younger Hinata beamed up at the camera while flashing a peace sign. “That’s Tobio. Kageyama Tobio. He’s my best friend.”

“You would think he’s a loner with that scowl of his.” Tsukishima commented. Hinata snickered behind his little fingers before straightening up. A wistful smile grew on his face, aged and fond throughout his life with his best friend.

“Yeah, I know. But, he’s changed so much.” Hinata drew a finger down the portrait of his and Kageyama’s younger faces tinged with baby fat. He gazed back up into Tsukishima’s molten golden eyes, not at all hindered by his large glasses frame, and softly smiled at the taller male. Tsukishima’s breath caught.

“I’m proud of who we both became.” Tsukishima turned away. The brightness of Hinata’s sunny smile and bright outlook clashed with his cynical nature and dark sneer. The two were complete opposites: sun and moon, but they still managed to click together so well. Tsukishima shuffled his feet and stuck his hands back into his pockets. He transformed into an unsure teenager again with too long limbs that didn’t match his cherub face.

“A dictator and a midget? Can’t say you’d be any better.” He lied through his teeth. It was a pathetic attempt at masking his true feelings, and Hinata knew it. Hinata just clicked his tongue in exasperated annoyance before stepping into Tsukishima’s personal space. The two were closer now--close enough for Tsukishima to bend down and press another fluttery kiss against warm cheeks and for Hinata to strain upwards and kiss Tsukishima on his pale pink lips.

Hinata’s eyes fluttered like a hummingbird’s heartbeat. The silence that hung over their heads didn’t bother either of the two; they relished in the absolute knowledge of their solidarity and solitude after the hurricane of one Kuroo Tetsuro and his unwilling lover that he dragged along for the ride.

“Tsukishima…” The blond’s ears grew aflame. Their faces were but a mere three inches apart.

“Kei.” His confidence surprised even himself. “Call me Kei.” Hinata laughed softly, a joyous sound that polluted Tsukishima’s--no, Kei’s veins.

“Kei.” Hinata tasted the sliver of a crescent moon as he uttered the name softly between his smooth lips. If Tsukishima shuddered, Hinata didn’t comment on it.

“You can just call me Shouyou then.” He did.

“Kiss me, Shouyou.” He did.

  


~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

  


Relationships didn’t always start out romantic. Take Yamaguchi and Kageyama for instance--the two were completely supportive of their best friends’ relationship (even though Kageyama complained nonstop for the first month about the rude boyfriend Hinata had and how Ushijima would have been better compared to the snarky telephone pole) even when the couple was sickly sweet with candy smiles and starry eyes. Hinata and Tsukishima weren’t strangers to PDA and gladly (and almost sadistically) flaunted their relationship in other people’s faces. Eventually, the third-wheeling Kageyama and Yamaguchi hung out more often than just excuses to be with their best friend until the duo also began dating. Hinata’s beam outshone a brand new bulb. And he may or may not have received an extra little _bonus_ for predicting the “future”.

But, anyway, relationships are fucking hard. Sometimes, Hinata and Tsukishima would argue over meaningless things; Tsukishima never truly grew out of the “asshole” phase with his blunt insults and his borderline aggressive nature. He never seemed to stop his hurtful words when he got started and more often than not, Hinata would painfully stare at him with hurt eyes full of betrayal that would leave Tsukishima longing and regretful when his lover walked out the door.

Hinata wasn’t perfect either. On specifically tough days, he would shut himself in with drained bloodshot eyes and a permanent frown. His grouchiness tended to clash with Tsukishima’s rude personality and the two would argue until Hinata’s throat was parched but his face was drowning in tears. So, yes, the two of them did have their differences that would lead to unpleasant situations.

While Hinata was hailed as the sun, Tsukishima was the support and equal to the sun for he was the moon plucked out of the night sky. They loved each other through thick and thin, and both firmly believed that the obstacles they faced helped strengthen their relationship and change their personas.

And Hinata didn’t think that was all that bad. Funnily enough, he still talks to Ushijima now and again, even after the terrible misunderstanding all those years ago. Ushijima would brush him off with a dour voice rivalling Tsukishima’s facade, but Hinata still couldn’t help but feel sorry for the brunette. Having your blind date desperately stuff breadsticks down their shirt before leaving the bill behind wasn’t a great experience, after all.

Tsukishima eventually became accustomed to the close friendship between Kageyama and Hinata. Hinata absolutely adored Yamaguchi and they were near best friends that contrasted to the love-hate relationship Tsukishima and Kageyama first had when they first met. Over time, the hate turned to dislike, then begrudging like for a lack of better words. Tsukishima and Kageyama still fought most of the time whenever they met, but their calm shoulders and “light” joking showed how far they had come.

And Hinata couldn’t be any more proud of the both of them.

  


~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

  


“You know, it’s bizarre.” Hinata commented. He dipped his fingers in the milky yellowish cream strands of hair. Tsukishima hummed, his glasses carefully placed off to the side to not disturb the couple’s peaceful time together. Their schedules were even busier than when they first started dating, seeing as Tsukishima was promoted to a full time worker at a lovely bakery close to their small house. Hinata steadily became an amazing coach that pulled Japan through the Olympics for volleyball. With their clashing schedules, neither had much time to spend with each other, let alone anyone else.

So it was a fresh breath of air when they both found out their similar “holidays” (which was more of a finally free weekend). Hinata eagerly pounced on the opportunity to spend more time with his boyfriend so he set up a quick road trip to a small, sleepy town down south of Japan where the beaches were wide and the work life slow. Compared to the fast, upbeat pace of the city, the countryside lay mellow, a sloth’s place in contrast to the cheetah like speed in their hometown.

“To think I would date an asshole waiter.” Hinata continued nostalgically. He grinned when Tsukishima snorted, knowing that his lover was rolling his eyes under his eyelids. The short blond eyelashes flew up to reveal honey irises as tempting as candy. Hinata pressed a loving kiss on the other’s forehead and received a content hum.

“And to think I would date a tiny gnome that used a fucking _meme_ of all things to escape a terrible blind date.” Tsukishima snipped back. Hinata couldn’t deny that claim. He stuck out his tongue childishly and squealed when Tsukishima flicked his cheek with slender fingers.

“Well one thing hasn’t changed.”

“My amazing personality?” Tsukishima sarcastically asked. Hinata retaliated by smacking him on the arm. Tsukishima just grunted grumpily.

“No, you dipshit. You’re still an asshole after all these years.”

“Yeah, well you’re dating this asshole. You’ve eaten out of this asshole like a buffet.” Hinata laughed at the analogy and pushed at Tsukishima’s cheek.

“You’ve been hanging out with Tetsuro too much lately.” Hinata pretended to pout and turn away from his lover. Tsukishima made a noise of protest from his heat source leaving him and he quickly sat up. With an exasperated sigh, he decided to play along with his lover’s whims by winding his arms around Hinata’s tiny form.

“You’re jealous.” Tsukishima muttered into Hinata’s reddening ears. He slyly accentuated his words with a playful nip to the orange head’s ear. Hinata shuddered at the sensitive feeling and melted back into Tsukishima’s warm hold. His chest thundered against Hinata’s back that intoxicated him in a way that no alcohol could ever compare.

“Says you.” Hinata teased back as he turned his head to nip at Tsukishima’s bottom lip with blunt teeth. “You were so jealous whenever Kageyama draped his arm around me.”

“That’s irrelevant.” Tsukishima clutched his boyfriend a little closer at the thought. He discovered early on that he was a possessive piece of shit that wouldn’t hesitate to obliterate anyone that just glanced at Hinata wrong. Not that Hinata wasn’t like that either, but Tsukishima was more subtle with his actions.

“You glared at Kageyama’s picture whenever you saw it, and that was _before_ we started dating.” Hinata pointed out gleefully. He felt empowered by the control he held over Tsukishima at the moment, and he planned to milk it out for all its worth. To his credit, the taller male didn’t try to feebly refute the statement and chose to stay broody and silent.

“...Do you ever wonder what would have happened if we never met each other?” Tsukishima quietly questioned. Hinata started from the other’s voice, but relaxed once again when Tsukishima carded his fingers through his long hair.

“Sometimes.” Hinata admitted. He stared up at the clouds moving slowly with the ticking clock, the fluffy white pillows soaring through the colorful sky as the setting sun waved goodnight on the horizon. Tsukishima pulled Hinata a little closer to him as they lay down together with the shorter male on top. The grassy hill they lay on rustled with the autumn breeze and Hinata snuggled up closer to share the heat with his lover.

“I probably would have dated Yamaguchi.” Tsukishima says. Hinata nods. He could see that.

“And I would be with Ushijima or something.”

“Not Kageyama?” Tsukishima asks partly in disbelief and shock. Hinata shakes his head without making eye contact with the blond.

“We’ve dated before and it was so bad.” Hinata explains as he reminisces when they were younger and fooling around with their hormonal bodies. A few hand jobs later, the two decided on being in a relationship. It did last two years, but the two mutually broke it off after they realized that their romantic relationship was even more toxic than their platonic. Yelling converted to throwing things, which then morphed into an ugly phase of pain and destruction from their stress. The two agreed to breaking up with each other and they found themselves much more comfortable than before. Sometimes, Hinata wonders if he would have dated Kageyama again, but he has Tsukishima now and that’s more than enough to extinguish the curious flames licking at his brain.

“No kidding.” Tsukishima strokes his large hand across Hinata’s side like one would pet an animal. Hinata doesn’t mind though, and he would never mind his lover’s soft touches along his body that illustrated just how loving the other was towards Hinata.

“You’re a dumb sap and I can’t believe I’m dating you.” Hinata taps Tsukishima’s nose, delighting in the disgruntled face that’s been watered down to a less threatening and mean look over the time that they’ve been dating. Hinata pecked Tsukishima’s nose afterwards and snuggled back into the crook of Tsukishima’s neck.

“But I still love you.” Tsukishima sighed in bliss, happiness surging through his body and curling delicately around his heart. He felt a familiar tug at his downturned lips that he didn’t erase this time. Even if Hinata couldn’t see his smile, he knew that the other would just know that he was smiling like an idiot.

“I love you too.” Tsukishima didn’t hesitate to peck Hinata’s head and run his fingers down the other’s spine. Hinata arched his back like a stretching cat while pleased sounds akin to a purr rose up from his throat and filled the serene air.

They just lay in each other’s arms for a long time. Even when the sun completely disappeared along the horizon and the night sky blanketed over the earth, the couple still silently basked in each other’s presence after a long time of being without the other. Over their heads, brilliant stars that shone like helicopters in the city sky winked back at them. The sight was beautiful and the full moon even more so, yet the two never paid attention to the surrounding nature blossoming across the empty fields and winding up in the sky.

No, they were much too absorbed in each other to even spare a glance at the passing shooting star or the gentle sway of tree branches in the wind. Hinata stroked Tsukishima’s cheek with a finger, trailing down a path of clear skin until he was following the river of blue down Tsukishima’s neck. Tsukishima continuously combed Hinata’s bangs out of his eyes even despite the fact that the bangs would always somehow slip out of his reach and gently fall back down over the other’s expressive eyes.

“Have I ever told you…” Hinata murmured sweetly. “...that you’re handsome?”

“I can stand to have you tell me more often.” Tsukishima teased, eliciting tinkling guffaws from Hinata.

“Selfish bastard.” He retorted with no bite. Tsukishima’s lips parted invitingly and Hinata dove down to kiss him breathless before Tsukishima could offer his own snarky input. Their tongues languidly entwined over and over again; they could never grow sick of the tingly feeling nor the warmth emitting from the other’s mouth that just ensnared both of their minds like an aphrodisiac.

The orange haired male softly opened his eyes, long amber eyelashes flowing like a slow motion video in the blond’s eyes. Tsukishima briefly wondered if he could suffocate on the star dust emitting from the lovely man in front of him. He breathed out just as gently, feeling as if his heart would run away from him.

For the two of them, clad in volleyball shorts and matching black and white shirts as day and night would wear, nothing was more comfortable than being in each other’s proximity. Tsukishima tangled his long legs further with Hinata’s much shorter ones. Hinata hummed a pleasant tune.

“What are you thinking about?” Tsukishima couldn’t help but ask. His lover’s humming mellowed down at the question.

“I can’t fucking believe we met through an internet meme.” Tsukishima didn’t hold back the laughter in this time.

  
  



End file.
